A Synthesis on the Effects of Two Commercial Recycled Plastics on the Properties of Bitumen and Asphalt

Greg White
Additional contact information
Greg White: School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, QLD 4561, Australia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: The desire to develop sustainable infrastructure, including pavement structures and materials, is ever increasing in recent times. One opportunity is to partially replace high-cost bituminous binder with low-cost recycled plastic in asphalt mixtures. This synthesis combines the various research efforts to understand the effects of two commercially available recycled plastics, known as MR6 and MR10, on bituminous binders and asphalt mixtures. Using common test methods from the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, generally consistent and significant effects were observed in various base bitumen grades and various common asphalt mixture types. Binder resistance to flow and binder elasticity both increased significantly and were associated with the three to four grade increases under the Performing Grading system. Similarly, mixture stiffness and mixture resistance to deformation increased significantly, while crack resistance and moisture damage resistance were not significantly affected. The effects of MR6 and MR10 were generally similar to the effects associated with conventional polymer modification of asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures, particularly those effects associated with plastomeric polymers.

Keywords: recycled; plastic; bitumen; asphalt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/8594/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/8594/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:20:p:8594-:d:429923

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().